Ok to run meanwell driver wide open??

[PopeyeSpinach]

I have a dimmable HLG driver with an external POT that isnt giving me all my watts to my QBs. (Due to the POT)

I can dim up to just about 35 Watts shy of my max watts with the POT.

If I just unhook the POT it defaults to the max watts. But is it okay to do that??

it's a 320H driver and it's giving me 334 Watts with the POT unhooked.

334 is not enough to hurt my lights, but the driver does get hot.

 

[pulpoinspace]

it's totally fine!

 

[PrometheanLeaf]

What boards, and wired how?

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

What boards, and wired how?

Four 304s in parallel series

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

A bigger driver is on the list lol

 

[klx]

Just cap off the wires and enjoy your extra watts!

 

[CoB_nUt]

Or add a resistor inline with the pot to get the max, that is if your pot isn't the actual 100k ohms.
But yea,wide open won't hurt your driver..

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

Cool, thanka fellas.... klx thats what i did

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

Or add a resistor inline with the pot to get the max, that is if your pot isn't the actual 100k ohms.
But yea,wide open won't hurt your driver..

I was thinking I need a better pot, the one I have is supposed to be 100 ohm but obviously its not. I'm just not sure which POT to get, I'm going to upgrade this to a 550 or 600 watt driver eventually.

Does anyone have a place where they buy pots at? Think I got these off eBay, I'm just not sure what to get. I was following an instructional guide when I bought these.

 

[CoB_nUt]

If you have a multimeter, you can check your pots. Amazon has a bag for cheap. you want the linear pots. Luck of the draw with the less expensive pots, some come up short of 100k ohms some go over. I forget the tolerance + - atm.

 

[Isawthelight]

Or you could add a switch to your dimmer pot. Keep the switch open (off position) for max brightness or close the switch (on position) when you need less power.

 

[PrometheanLeaf]

https://www.rapidled.com/cased-potentiometer-with-knob/

My favorite potentiometer

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

https://www.rapidled.com/cased-potentiometer-with-knob/

My favorite potentiometer

I even like the price!!

 

[ANC]

I was thinking I need a better pot, the one I have is supposed to be 100 ohm but obviously its not. I'm just not sure which POT to get, I'm going to upgrade this to a 550 or 600 watt driver eventually.

Does anyone have a place where they buy pots at? Think I got these off eBay, I'm just not sure what to get. I was following an instructional guide when I bought these.

If you bought a cheap pot it may be 10% or more tolerance... meaning it could be 90 to 110k ohm... buy a few and measure them out or add a series resistor.

 

[CannaBruh]

When you buy pots with a 20% tolerance it's anyone's guess which side of the spectrum they'll land.

Look for tighter tolerances, go to mouser/digikey/arrow and shop for alpha or bournes or other higher quality pots.

If you shop on ebay your chances of picking up fakes go up imo. Get electronics parts from authorized distributors and tolerances that will suffice your build demands and these problems go away.

 

[PopeyeSpinach]

I use the 320's with the built in dimmer, I run mine at 380 watts.. but I do make sure air is moving over them..

Put some spacers behind it and sandwiched this heatsink behind it. It has def cooled it down.

 

[whytewidow]

When you buy pots with a 20% tolerance it's anyone's guess which side of the spectrum they'll land.

Look for tighter tolerances, go to mouser/digikey/arrow and shop for alpha or bournes or other higher quality pots.

If you shop on ebay your chances of picking up fakes go up imo. Get electronics parts from authorized distributors and tolerances that will suffice your build demands and these problems go away.

Totally true. I bought the 20 pack from Amazon 100k ohm pots. Bc I knew they weren't gonna be 100k. But I figured atleast omw would be. Out of 20 3 where 100.23k ohm and higher. Woth the highest being 107.88 ohms. The other 17 were 85k ohm and lower. Lol. But I only needed 1. For 6 bucks shipped to my door in two days. It was worth it. But I have 17 85k n lower pots if I need them for anything lol.

 

[Serverchris]

I dont know why people even mess with pots instead of just buying the adjustable voltage/adjustable current hlg driver.

 

[Boatguy]

I dont know why people even mess with pots instead of just buying the adjustable voltage/adjustable current hlg driver.

Because turning a knob is easier, and it can be placed wherever you want it.

 

[Moflow]

Because turning a knob is easier, and it can be placed wherever you want it.

But then you use more calorific energy turning the knob up or down all the time, whereas with A type drivers just set it once and forget about it......